Welcome back to the Seniors’ Scene. As you know, the Y Trafton Center is a not-for-profit program of the Sanford-Springvale YMCA. As such, we look for funding from many sources and at this time of the year I submit reports to our municipality and any other agencies that have invested in our center. I welcome this reporting as it gives me an opportunity to review our plans and programs and make adjustments moving forward.

This got me to thinking about how the Y Trafton Center operates and what, if any, benefit we bring to the community. The obvious benefit, I am sure you will agree, is our mission of providing a safe and welcoming environment for our active older adult population to gather and maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. I wonder, though, if we should take a moment and look at the not-so-obvious benefit of what it means to have a senior center in Sanford.

In the first six months of operations, we employed local residents who earned just over $29,000. The folks in these positions operate the center; they teach classes, maintain the building, carry out the various clerical tasks and make sure that members are welcome and active. We had over $3,000 in local contracts for utilities and building needs with businesses that operate here in Sanford. In order to offer opportunities to gather for social interactions, we provide lunch on Fridays and one or two events per month; this equated to over $4,900 in refreshments, all purchased at local markets. These numbers do not begin to reflect the donations that our members bring on a regular basis. Only 25 percent of our annual budget comes from outside support; the vast majority of our funding is made up of in-house programming, trusts and the generosity of our membership and the community.

Since we are the only senior center in the area, we draw from surrounding towns, and when these folks come to Sanford they also plan to do their errands right here in town as well. Our members are not just dedicated to our center; they are also active and willing volunteers at our local hospital, library, agency on aging, schools and churches.

So why write about this at all? Why does it matter? In my mind, this shows that we are an integral part of our community, contributing to our local economy, helping neighbors and making a difference. As we look to the future of our center and our community, we will continue to look at how we can give of our time and talent.